Baker's Dozen Film Review Questions
Baker's Dozen Film Review Questions
Watching a film carefully means watching it actively. You can't simply plunk yourself down in a theater, popcorn in hand and let the images wash over you for a couple of hours. Rather, to watch a movie actively, you must learn to read the screen, to ask yourself questions as you watch, to notice the elements which make a film succeed or fail. There are many questions you could ask, but here's a baker's dozen to get you started.
- Does the beginning of the film get your attention and interest?
- Are you able to suspend disbelief? Put another way, did you forget you were watching a film? Or another way, did you feel like, for a moment, you were witnessing real-life experiences?
- Do the characters seem real?
- When the actors speak, are they involved in real conversations or are they just reading lines?
- Do the characters' actions make sense in the context of the film?
- Does the story move along, keeping your attention all the way?
- Is the story confusing?
- Does the story build to an exciting climax?
- Are there unnecessary scenes? For instances violence for the sake of having a violent scene.
- Do the sets, lighting, and camera shots add to or detract from the film? Does the director use any unusual techniques to make a point?
- Does the music and sound effects add or detract from the film?
- Were you left feeling like the film ended too soon, not soon enough or just at the right time?
- Was this a good film? What made you rate the film the way you did? The questions above should help you describe your opinion of the film and why.
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